CRESCENT VALLEY HIGH EARNS BLUE RIBBON.

Byline: Erik Nelson Staff Writer

CRESCENTA VALLEY - The U.S. Department of Education on Monday designated Crescenta Valley High School as one of the state's 40 Blue Ribbon Schools, signifying that the school is among the nation's top schools.

The Blue Ribbon Award makes Crescenta Valley the first high school in the Glendale Unified School District to win the title. In 1993, Rosemont Middle School administrators were honored in a White House ceremony after the Education Department named Rosemont a Blue Ribbon School for the 1992-93 school year. A third Glendale school, Marshall Elementary, received the honor in the 1980s.

``We're thrilled, obviously,'' said Crescenta Valley Co-principal Linda Evans. ``It represents the combined efforts of the students and the teachers and the school staff and the parents and the community.''

The selection was made by the department after evaluating a long list of criteria at the school, such as student support, curriculum, teaching, culture and standardized test scores.

``We've just been on a real academic roll for the last six years,'' said Evans, adding that federal evaluators had told her that they were also impressed with the support students receive from teachers and the school's clubs, community service activities and ``the sense of pride everyone has at the school.''

State education officials submitted a list of 49 public schools to the federal department last fall. Department officials selected 39 of them, plus one private school, for Blue Ribbon status.

Crescenta Valley is among 198 middle and high schools nationwide named Blue Ribbon Schools for the 1999-2000 school year. The schools are chosen every two years, and elementary schools receive the designation in the intervening years.

Redwood Middle School in Thousand Oaks and Valley View Middle School in Simi Valley were also named Blue Ribbon schools.